Balsamic Onion Blue Cheese Bites

Diced onions are caramelized in balsamic vinegar and piled high on a crispy tortilla along with blue cheese crumbles and walnuts. These balsamic onion blue cheese bites pack a ton of delicious sweet and savory flavor in a small bite perfect for your New Year’s Eve party!

The instant pot takes the work out of caramelizing onions

I know what you’re thinking. Why pull out the instant pot when you can caramelize onions on the stovetop? Trust me…the instant pot is the only way to caramelize onions in my opinion. Start by dicing your onions. Use the “sauté” setting to sauté the onions in two tablespoons of oil. Once they start to turn translucent (around 10 minutes), add 1/2 cup water, a 1/4 teaspoon salt and a pinch of black pepper. Cover and set to “pressure cook” for 10 minutes. Once the timers goes off, vent manually and remove the top. Add two tablespoon of balsamic vinegar and one tablespoon sugar and sauté until most of the liquid has been reduced, while stirring occasionally with a whisk. The mixture will look more like a balsamic onion jam. Using the instant pot reduces cooking time to a fraction of the stovetop recipe and it creates the best jam consistency for this recipe.

Variations of balsamic onion blue cheese bites

The caramelization of the the balsamic onions is a little bit of a process. I wouldn’t bother if it wasn’t worth it and trust me…it’s worth it! But, this is the holiday season and we have to simplify recipes without sacrificing flavor. For this reason I pile our onions, blue cheese and walnuts onto a prepared tortilla. Yep, a good old grocery store-bought tortilla When I’m preparing this recipe gluten-free, I use my favorite brand Siete almond or chickpea tortillas.

Here are a few substitutions for the tortilla.

• Puff pastry – Some groceries stores sell bite-sized puff pastry cups. They’re already the perfect size and the cup shape holds all of that delicious filling inside. If you can’t find the cups, use a pizza cutter to cut a sheet of defrosted puff pastry into smaller squares. Place each square into a muffin tin to create bite-sized puffs. Pressing them into a muffin pan gives creates the perfect shape to load them up with that delicious filling.
• Frozen prepared pizza dough – Pile the onion, blue cheese and walnuts on top of a frozen prepared pizza dough. Cook according to the directions on the box.
• Flatbread – Flatbread delivers similar flavor as pizza dough but there’s less of it so if you’d prefer to increase the filling in your filling/crust ratio, this is the option for you.

Looking for other holiday appetizer ideas?

• Cranberry Jalapeño Cheese Ball
• Super simple stuffed mushrooms
• Creamy pesto stuffed cherry tomatoes

Balsamic Onion Blue Cheese Bites

These balsamic onion blue cheese bites pack a ton of this delicious flavor combination in a small, app-sized bite.

5 from 2 votes

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Course Appetizer

Cuisine American

Ingredients

  

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 large yellow onions diced
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• Pinch of black pepper
• 2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 tortillas To make this recipe gluten-free use a gluten-free tortilla.
• 1 cup crumbled blue cheese or crumbled Gorgonzola cheese. Add more or less, to taste.
• ½ cup walnut pieces. Add more or less, to taste.

Instructions

 

• Heat the oil in a medium sauce pan on medium heat. Add the diced onions and sauté until they start to turn translucent (about 10 minutes).
• Add 3/4 cup water. Once the water is boiling, reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for about 45 minutes. Check and stir occasionally. If the water has disintegrated, add another 1/4 – 1/2 cup.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Remove the cover, add the balsamic vinegar and sugar and simmer on medium heat stirring occasionally with a whisk, until the liquid is absorbed.
• Use one tablespoon of oil to brush both sides of the tortilla and place them on a baking sheet. Bake for 3 minutes or until they start to turn golden brown. Remove the baking sheet with the tortillas from the oven. Spread the onion mixture on the tortillas. Next, add the blue cheese crumbles. Top with the walnut pieces.
• Bake about 5 minutes or until the tortilla is slightly crispy and the toppings are hot. Slice into bite sizes pieces before serving.

Notes

Caramelize the onions using an instant pot:

Start by dicing your onions. Use the “sauté” setting to sauté the onions in two tablespoons of oil.

Once the onions start to turn translucent (around 10 minutes), add 1/2 cup water, a pinch of pepper and about 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Cover and set to “pressure cook” for 10 minutes.

Once the onions are finished pressure cooking, vent the pressure cooker manually and remove the top.

Add two tablespoon of balsamic vinegar and one tablespoon sugar and sauté until most of the liquid has been reduced, while stirring occasionally with a whisk. The mixture will look more like a balsamic onion jam. 

Keyword balsamic onion blue cheese appetizer, balsamic onion blue cheese bites, balsamic onion blue cheese walnut appetizer, blue cheese bites, blue cheese snack, onion blue cheese appetizer

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